Registered Agent Service
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Free Texas Registered Agent Service
Our Free Texas Registered Agent Offer
If you have an existing or are forming a new Texas Corporation, Limited-Liability Company, Limited Partnership, Foreign Filing or any other corporate entity, almost every jurisdiction requires by law that you must have a registered agent located in that jurisdiction.
Texas Registered Agent service alone can cost you up to $320 per year with some companies. FreeRegisteredAgent.com, through an affiliation with InCorp Services, Inc., will provide your first year of registered agent service with us for FREE and $129 per year thereafter!
Included in the service is full access to InCorp's industry leading client website where you may check the status of your entities in multiple jurisdictions on the same page, check compliance events, download or view FREE copies of your filed documents at any time from anywhere, make payments to your account and even check for mail that's been forwarded to you!
There is no catch whatsoever except that the corporate entity requiring service can't currently be represented by InCorp Services already. After the first year, if you choose to stay with InCorp Services, Inc., you will pay just $129 per year for the same great services!
Texas registered agent facts
| Registered agent statute | Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 5.201 |
|---|---|
| LLC filing fee | $300 (Certificate of Formation) |
| Corporation filing fee | $300 (Certificate of Formation) |
| Annual report fee | None to the Secretary of State. Texas entities instead file an annual franchise tax report and Public Information Report with the Comptroller; no fee is owed if the entity is under the no-tax-due revenue threshold |
| Annual report due | Franchise tax report and Public Information Report due May 15 each year |
| Typical processing time | Standard processing varies with SOS workload (posted on the SOS website); expedited handling is $25 per document through SOSDirect or SOSUpload |
Registered agent requirements in Texas
The Texas Business Organizations Code centralizes registered agent law for every entity type in one place: Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 5.201 requires each domestic filing entity and each registered foreign entity to designate and continuously maintain a registered agent and registered office in Texas. The agent must be either an individual Texas resident or an organization authorized to transact business in the state, and the code expressly bars an entity from naming itself. The registered office must be a physical Texas address where the agent is available during business hours - not merely a mailbox service. Texas adds a consent safeguard most states lack: under § 5.2011 the designated person must have consented to serve in a written or electronic form, and a designation made without that consent can be stricken.
Formation runs through the Texas Secretary of State, whose SOSDirect and SOSUpload portals handle most filings electronically. The Certificate of Formation costs $300 whether you are organizing an LLC (Form 205) or incorporating a for-profit corporation (Form 201), and $25 per document adds expedited handling.
What Texas does not have is a Secretary of State annual report. The recurring obligation lives with the Comptroller of Public Accounts instead: every taxable entity files a franchise tax report each May 15, together with a Public Information Report that refreshes the state’s record of officers, directors, or managers. Entities under the no-tax-due revenue threshold owe nothing in tax but must still file the PIR. Miss the May 15 cycle and Tex. Tax Code chapter 171 sets a forfeiture chain in motion - loss of the right to transact business, then forfeiture of the charter itself, with personal liability exposure for those who continue operating - so the “no annual report” reputation is only half the story.
A registered agent failure carries its own consequences: without a valid agent the Secretary of State becomes the involuntary conduit for service, and the state can move toward involuntary termination under chapter 11. A staffed Texas street address that accepts process, tracks the May 15 franchise deadline, and holds the statutorily required consent on file keeps all of that theoretical. FreeRegisteredAgent.com provides the first year of Texas registered agent service free through InCorp, then $129 per year.
Texas registered agent FAQ
- Does my registered agent have to consent in Texas?
- Yes. Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 5.2011 makes it a specific statutory requirement that a person designated as registered agent must have consented, in a written or electronic form, to serve. Naming someone without consent leaves the designation ineffective.
- Does Texas have an annual report?
- Not with the Secretary of State. The yearly obligation is the franchise tax report and Public Information Report filed with the Texas Comptroller by May 15. Most small entities owe no tax but must still file, and blowing the deadline leads to forfeiture of the entity's charter.
- Can my Texas LLC be its own registered agent?
- No. Under § 5.201 an entity may not serve as its own registered agent - the agent must be an individual Texas resident or an organization, other than the entity itself, that is registered or authorized to do business in Texas.
- How do I file formation documents in Texas?
- Through SOSDirect or SOSUpload, the Secretary of State's online filing channels, by mail, or in person. The Certificate of Formation is $300 for both LLCs and for-profit corporations, and $25 per document buys expedited handling.
- What does Texas registered agent service cost?
- Your first year is free through InCorp via FreeRegisteredAgent.com, then $129 per year.
Further information about Texas corporations, corporate law and Texas Registered Agent Service:
Texas Secretary of state's website | Texas Registered Agent Statutes | Compare Texas Registered Agents